So I wanted to share a few things I found interesting while checking up on the forums over the weekend.
I’ll start off with a really good informational Lore post by Hakon_Stormbrow that shows a timeline of all the lands and kingdoms throughout the history of Middle-Earth. Pretty helpful as I’m also making my way through the Silmarillion and learning all the early history so seeing how that maps to the “current’ history of LOTRO is quite handy.
I’ll continue first with the warden posts, and then finish with some regarding minstrels.
First off the discussion on which weapon to use – swords or spears. I personally have always used a spear since it looks cooler and I thought the bleed would counter for any other damage increase obtained from the increased hit chance of the sword. However, as mentioned in this thread it really ends up being quite close to a mathematical wash. The general rule seems to be whichever has the better legacies, but that a sword might be better for mobs that are higher levels then you. But, like many have commented on neither one is substantially better then the other – so just pick which has better legacies or whichever floats your boat. 🙂
The next was a question regarding Adroit Maneuver which is a length 4 gambit that increases our attack speed. I remember initially thinking this would be a really cool gambit and I did use it frequently but I quickly got over it as I realized Warden’s Triumph (length 5 gambit) hits for more and provides a much better damage buff. And with good usage of our masteries, weapon speed really doesn’t matter all that much. And it appears that I’m not alone in this thought process as many on the forums agree that Adroit Maneuver is not worth using at all once you get the length 5 gambits.
For those of you looking to tank the Mirkwood BG raid, there’s some good discussion in this thread regarding some of the issues some have with it and some ideas for mitigating them. The main issues the poster has are with him dying and not being able to re-establish agro, threat transfers, and the huge hit to ICPR. All 3 of these issues are actually pretty common in other areas so even if you’re not in BG there’s some good ideas/lessons to be learned from it. One of the main points that I don’t always remember is that champs have the ability to transfer threat both from them and to them and as such can transfer their threat to you in case you die to help you better catch up.
There also was a little more discussion on the strategies behind soloing sword halls (SH). There are now 2 posts on this topic the newer one and the original. It is a fun thing to try and play around with, but from a time perspective it is not the most optimal way to farm anything. SH hard mode is certainly easier and quicker and even the easy mode can be duo’d quite effectively much quicker. But like many of the posters (and I feel the same way) it is an accomplishment.
Switching gears a bit, there were also some good minstrel posts of late.
This first one has some good general ideas for how to play a minstrel and what to look out for. The thread hits on a number of topics from skills to equipment to consumables and also includes some advice on traits and virtues. And there are also some really good links scattered about as well.
For those minstrels out there wondering how much in-combat power regen (ICPR) additional fate will deliver, this thread dives into all the math involved. Essentially fate provides a flat 1.5 in-combat MORALE regeneration (ICMR) boost for each point of fate, but the power curve is slightly different. Some were listing a number of 0.6 ICPR, but a more accurate formula appears to be ICPR boost = 30*Fate^0.5, which actually is a boost of roughly 20% that was rolled out with the recent combat revamp.
And for those of you minstrels that are jealous of all the cool things wardens can do solo, a friend of mine posted his epic soloing of the spider Bogbereth. Granted this is a level 50 mob, but it spawns a TON of adds and back when 50 was the level cap it was initially a raid quest 🙂 I never even thought to try it on a minstrel as I assumed the adds would be too much but it is doable, just make sure to stack ICPR and bring lots of power pots 😉